Most Mississippians likely would agree the priority of the state Legislature should be paving a way for a bright future for Mississippi.

However, lawmakers took a step last week, which shows providing for a solid education for Mississippi’s children — its future — is not its priority.

In 1997, the Mississippi Legislature passed the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which provides a formula for how Mississippi’s public schools should be funded.

However, since that law was passed, the Legislature has only twice — both during election years — used the formula to provide the state’s share to Mississippi’s public school districts.

A group of Mississippi residents came together, formed a group known as Better Schools, Better Jobs, traveled the state and gathered enough signatures to put before Mississippi voters Initiative 42, which would be a constitutional amendment to force the state to follow the law and use the MAEP formula to fund education.

In a move to confuse voters and aimed at defeating that grass roots-led amendment, Republican legislators passed their own ballot issue, known as the MAEP alternative, which takes away Mississippi courts’ ability to force it to follow the formula.

A lawsuit brought against the state to force it to pay the $230 million plaintiffs claim the state owes to Mississippi’s public schools is still pending.

The Natchez-Adams School District did not officially join the lawsuit against the state, which was brought by former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. However, most calculate the NASD is owed somewhere in the neighborhood of $16 million.

If lawmakers don’t like the MAEP funding, then they should work to change it. Simply disregarding the state’s obligation to the state’s children is shameful at best.

At worst, it puts in real jeopardy our state’s future.